Last weekend we went to Malacca or Melaka the historic city state of Malaysia, just two hours drive from Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia. It was just a short outing with my family because we have been here before together with my son last year. This time we decided to visit Malacca maritime Museum which is located inside the ship.

The Maritime Museum along Jalan Quayside by the banks of the Malacca River is housed in the life-size replica of the Flor de la Mar, the Portuguese galleon which sank in the Malacca Harbour in the 16th century. Inside this museum are dioramas and intricately designed ship models. Apart from giving detailed descriptions of Malaccan history, there is also a map featuring charts dating back to the times when the Portuguese were a seafaring nation that conquered the world.

For more details you may google about it, because I don’t want to talk so much about history here, I think you don’t want to know about it either but nevertheless the Maritime Museum is perfect for holiday picture background. I use UWA or Ultra Wide Angle Lens 10-20 mm for all three shots above. I want to include the background to create a sense of belonging or “I’ve been here” kind of things.

After Maritime Museum we take a stroll along Jonker Street, a must visit place if you come to Malacca, there is a lot of antique building here. Jonker Street, houses some of the Melaka oldest dwellings or houses dating back to the 17th century, is also informally known as the antique street. The antique shops here are featuring artifacts from different periods of colonial rule Portuguese, Dutch, and British. If you have sufficient time to stroll through the street with eagle eyes, you can easily hunt and bargain for the unique and valuable antique furniture, Chinese porcelain, brassware, cast iron beds, lamps, coins and money notes, as well as the priceless Buddha statues.

My son HaiQal is growing up already and I guess it is good exposure for him to see some new places, explore new things, open up his world a bit. I don’t have much luxury when I was a kid, in fact I’ve never been to Malacca until I start working with the government where within a week on one of my assignment I have visit all the state in the Peninsular of Malaysia. Our family doesn’t have a car and don’t even have a motorcycle, back then “outing with a family” is not in our family “dictionary”. My world was quite small back then but Thank God, Syukur Alhamdulillah now I’ve seen the place that I’ve never dream of, thanks to my chosen job as a photographer. As a photographer, I do travel a lot, sometimes too much traveling but I’m not complaining. I’m having fun.

Those pictures above were edited with the technique from my Photoshop Tone Secret eBook, you can find out more about the eBook by clicking the link below.